Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Port Moody—Coquitlam.
On behalf of Nipissing—Timiskaming, I would like to offer my support to our fellow citizens of Saskatchewan and Manitoba who have been affected by the forest fires. May rain and calm weather return quickly to the affected communities.
Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate you on your election as Speaker.
I am very proud to follow in the footsteps of Anthony Rota, who served as the Speaker of the House of Commons from 2019 to 2023. He also served the people of Nipissing—Timiskaming for 17 years.
Let me start by sharing a bit of information about my riding, which is only four hours west of Ottawa. Nipissing—Timiskaming is made up of many unique communities. As a former mayor of my community, I know that each community deserves a representative who recognizes its distinctive character. I commit before my colleagues today to serving each community and its citizens with attention and discernment.
There are areas of our riding such as Bear Island and Garden Village, which are home to the Nipissing, Temagami, Antoine and Matawa/North Bay Algonquin first nations. It is with honour and respect that I say meegwetch to the original people and affirm my commitment and responsibility to advance the process of reconciliation. It is important to them that the government recognize the rights and contributions of the Anishinabe first nations in all discussions concerning their lands, resources and economic opportunities.
I also want to talk about the francophone population in my riding. Nearly one-third of the residents of Nipissing—Timiskaming have a working knowledge of French and English. During the election campaign, many people spoke to me about the importance of a federal government that will continue to defend the rights, freedoms and prosperity of francophone communities outside Quebec. They also spoke about the importance of protecting institutions that promote francophone culture, such as Radio-Canada.
That is a snapshot of my riding and its people.
When I met with people, including business owners and organization leaders, in my riding, the issue that came up most often was leadership. That is why, when Mark Carney released the plan entitled “Canada Strong”—